With central banks around the world debasing their currencies by printing money out of thin air, I have been giving increasingly more thought on converting my assets into hard money. The debate that rages on in my head is which is the superior hard money. Gold, the standard for hard money that has withstood the test of time over millennia, or Bitcoin, the world’s first decentralized cryptocurrency. Here are my thoughts.
Intrinsic Value
Gold is often toted as being superior to Bitcoin because gold, unlike Bitcoin, has intrinsic value as a commodity. That is, there is gold demand for purposes outside the functions of money. Gold is used in a variety of industries such as dentistry, electronic hardware, aerospace, jewelry, glass-making and more. This means that gold will have value whether or not gold is being used as money. Bitcoin, on the other hand, has no intrinsic value. If people do not accept Bitcoin’s monetary functions then it has no value.
However, if we accept Bitcoin as money, then the fact that it has no intrinsic value is a significant positive. A money founded on something of intrinsic value will always be subject to supply shocks. For example, imagine that demand for gold has been increasing steadily as the aerospace industry expands and gobbles up more gold. Then one day, our brilliant scientists come up with an alloy that renders the functions of gold in aerospace obsolete. The value of gold begins to drop rapidly as we no longer buy gold for aerospace and begin to melt down the existing gold components. The value of gold will always fluctuate based on the demand for its monetary and intrinsic properties. Bitcoin has the luxury of not being subject to intrinsic volatility.
In summary, I have some fear of people abandoning Bitcoin as money and as it has no intrinsic value, I could end up with nothing. However, the fact that it has no intrinsic value means that Bitcoin is resistant to supply shocks, making it a superior money with little chance of the demand dropping to zero.
Confiscation
To me, the threat of confiscation is a real one. The United States, Great Britain and Australia have all passed legislation in the past forbidding the ownership of gold. Citizens were required to exchange their gold for government paper. In the United States, failure to comply could have netted you a 10 year prison sentence.
Today private ownership of gold is allowed, but I am not positive this will remain the case. The political climate is becoming dangerous. The wealthy (and wealth creation itself) are increasingly demonized and cries for socialism and wealth distribution are growing ever louder. This coupled with an imminent economic collapse make ripe conditions to destroy wealth, through both inflation and confiscation.
Already I have concerns. If I convert my savings into gold and try to fly from China to the United States, will the government harass me or potentially even confiscate my gold holdings in the future? Even now, the US Customs and Border Protection state that I have to declare currency and monetary instruments in excess of $10,000, failure to do so may result in seizure. With Bitcoin I have no concern. No government can go through my bags and find Bitcoin to confiscate. As far as my understanding of Bitcoin goes, there is no, or very very little, risk of confiscation. Please correct me here if I am wrong.
Divisibility & Distribution
In terms of divisibility and ease of transfer, there is no debate that Bitcoin is infinitely superior. I am looking into making my first purchase of gold and damn is it a pain in the ass. If I wish to purchase it online at a place such as Schiff Gold, I would need a couple of months, at least, before I could hold my tiny gold bar. They suggest that I store any gold I purchase in their Singapore vault, but then I don’t feel like it is truly my gold and would have to pay storage fees. If I wish to purchase it here in China, I need to set up an appointment at a bank, and as much as I love China, I hate the idea of handing over my info to state run banks to make a gold purchase. Also I’m confined to purchasing units of 10g, 20g, 50g, 100g, 1kg. There is no easy way for me to purchase a value amount that is perfectly suitable for me.
All this being said, to me gold has one large advantage and that is its history and global distribution. Central banks around the world have massive gold reserves and it is common for everyday citizens to hold a little gold in wedding bands and other jewelry. Everybody knows and understands gold has value. It may be quite sometime before Bitcoin can achieve the same status. Already countries such as Russia and China have been increasing their gold reserves, undoubtedly preparing for an event where fiat money collapses and the world goes back to a hard money standard. Clearly the bet of these governments is a gold standard. And why not? It is what the world used for thousands of years and governments around the world already have large gold reserves.
At the end of the day, I still choose Bitcoin. I choose Bitcoin because I believe the power of the people will always be greater than the power of the government. Governments can try to maintain power by going back to a gold standard and confiscating the gold of citizens, but if people choose Bitcoin over gold, then it will not matter. Money and power will have become truly decentralized.
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